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Topic: GemX - missing in action (Read 153021 times)

Just the same, I don't think that there was enough "negativism" to justify a disappearance. There are probably more serious issues internally. But they did mention in a post that they were somewhat annoyed with the posting (generally). Dealing with clients is NOT their strong point, ofcourse. And I agree, running a business involves lots of responsibilities. Running a forum is also a responsibility. It's a connection between the developers and the clients. Any serious business will watch that closely and carefully post suitable answers. It's a question of competency! This was their 1st forum, and so they never disappeared like that before. Every forum has it's ups-and-downs, but to turn it completely off, well, that really shows a lack of professionalism - as you say. Obviously, they haven't "matured" enough as a business to understand the importance of a client-centered approach. Your clients are like "gold" and you would normally do everything to keep them.

Agree. And if you want to close down the forum. That's fine - that's their right. But out of common courtesy say - the forum is closed - we are changing our approach and just want feedback from our registered beta software subscribers. If there is something going on with the company - fine - post a message to let people know.

They have treated their customers with no respect in the past and still continue to do so - this will never change. So if you want to use their software prepare yourself for this. And how fair were they to you tiptop - you were the moderator of their forum and they are ignoring you as well after all the work you put in. How rude is that???...

Their beta team doesnt have any contact either. I am part of the beta team and the latest release I have was a 3.09 beta release which "fixed the reminders bug", although it really didnt. The way they are handling this is going to shoot them in the foot and IF they ever open their forums back up, I plan to voice my disapproval very vocally.

For some perverse reason, I was a de facto beta tester as well (granted, it appears EVERYONE was). I say this because the download that I received after purchasing the upgrade was for 3.09. It was this anomaly that set me off down this path in the first place. My first DSM to them sought clarification about the version that I was running... I never did receive a response on that one, either...

"Some people have a way with words, other people,... oh... have not way" - Steve Martin

There were only a few beta testers (5-6)... at least in the beta testing forum, that's all there was, and they generally, were not very active. The greater part of all the beta reports were coming in from me.

Their beta team doesnt have any contact either. I am part of the beta team and the latest release I have was a 3.09 beta release which "fixed the reminders bug", although it really didnt. The way they are handling this is going to shoot them in the foot and IF they ever open their forums back up, I plan to voice my disapproval very vocally.

I never did try the phone number/fax route. Once SWREG started working with me on this I couldn't see the point. Like Josh, I'm still going to monitor the forum and if it is ever revived I'll be making my displeasure known there...

"Some people have a way with words, other people,... oh... have not way" - Steve Martin

Hmmm... I'm starting to question the wisdom of having requested a refund: I paid $70US in August when the Canadian dollar sat around $.96US. If I get my refund over the weekend I'll be paid back with the US dollar worth $.98CDN! I''m going to be losing money on this deal... Not to mention that the credit card company charged me a fee to do the conversion from Canadian to US currency and will do the same again

"Some people have a way with words, other people,... oh... have not way" - Steve Martin

Hmmm... I'm starting to question the wisdom of having requested a refund: I paid $70US in August when the Canadian dollar sat around $.96US. If I get my refund over the weekend I'll be paid back with the US dollar worth $.98CDN! I''m going to be losing money on this deal... Not to mention that the credit card company charged me a fee to do the conversion from Canadian to US currency and will do the same again

Well, at least, that's not a bad refund...better off losing a part of it than to lose the whole sum...Would it be wiser to lose all?

Hmmm... I'm starting to question the wisdom of having requested a refund: I paid $70US in August when the Canadian dollar sat around $.96US. If I get my refund over the weekend I'll be paid back with the US dollar worth $.98CDN! I''m going to be losing money on this deal... Not to mention that the credit card company charged me a fee to do the conversion from Canadian to US currency and will do the same again

You should contact your credit card company and explain the refund - you should be reimbursed in full. If not contact the transaction company and explain to them too.

Darwin, I hope they come back online just so that I can express my distaste with their current method of handling things. I havent been ignoring your PM's, merely waiting until I could gather more information. I really wish I could find more, but without an international telephone line, I cant call them to try and reach them.

Heh, heh - thanks for the comments, guys! I was posting a bit tongue in cheek (though looking back at it it isn't really evident) when I complained about the exchange rate - Doublewitt, you're right getting 95% or so back is nothing to complain about. Carol - if you're right (and I will follow up on this) - then I REALLY have nothing to complain about.

Josh - no worries, things have sorted themselves out from my end. If you're interested in a refund yourself, this route should work for you as well, though there is a process that needs to be worked through (you contact GemX through the SWREG interface, wait for a few days, then write to SWREG via their interface, they write to GemX and give them 48 hours to reply. When they don't, you use the interface again to contact SWREG who then give GemX another 48 hours to respond before issuing a refund).

"Some people have a way with words, other people,... oh... have not way" - Steve Martin

I tend to think that those who process refund transactions will consider this as a "new" transaction as of today, you know what I mean, so I'd be surprised if they revert back to a past exchange rate... who knows... it's worth following up anyways! Maybe Carol is right...

Vizacc, for those that don't know, make an excellent free software called HelpMaker. Great for creating hlp and html help files. It is basically a specialized 2-pane outliner. http://www.vizacc.com/. Sally seems to be the brain behind this project which is actively being developped.

As for myself, I develop SQLNotes which is a general purpose information manager. It supports both single-pane oulining with columns (as Ecco Pro) and 2-pane with a rich text editing pane (Ultra Recall, MyInfo, and zillions others). Many many other features. Far too many to enumerate here (calculation, filtering, advanced search, pivot tables and charts, web clippings, auto-assign, Office links ...) It is actively developped, so visit www.sqlnotes.net to have your voice heard. Do-Organizer users input is particularly welcome. Please come to download a free copy and influence its evolution!

I was also one of the beta testers (MikeH) and suffered the same fate. I sent many emails to gemx - all unanswered. It's good to see notes from familiar names from the gemx forum.

Fortunately, I also found SQLNotes, which will replace and surpass ECCO, a package I've used on and off for years. Pierre is very active with the beta group. I think he's sensitive to the plight of the DO community and will turn out a product that will be excellent.